Cosmetic companies have great marketing departments that tout new magic ingredients every season.  Or they make skin care seem complicated, so you buy more products. 

Luckily, it's possible to keep skin care simple and affordable.  And there are excellent, affordable products to maintain that youthful glow for those of us past thirty. 

Everyone Needs:

• A gentle cleanser
• A moisturizer
• A good sunscreen

For those over 30 - 35, you need to add:

• An antioxidant in the morning
• A retinoid (Vitamin A cream) in the evening

(If you have acne or very oily skin, you'll need different products. You can take our Acne Test to see what products work best for your skin profile.  Or check out Dr. Irwin's Oil and Acne Control Product Recommendations).

The antioxidants and retinoids are not cheap, but these are two types of products where you need to spend some money to get an effective product.  Later, we'll save you money on the cleansers, moisturizers, and sunscreens.

You can buy some of these products from our online partner, SkinCareRx.com. We get a commission if you buy from them, but that is the only way I pay back the cost of building and maintaining this website. Please remember that I have no financial ties to any cosmetic company. So my product recommendations are completely unbiased.  

If you’re over 40, use an antioxidant product in the morning. I recommend:

These are expensive, I realize. And you have to get them from your doctor or online. And while I can heartily recommend drugstore cleansers and moisturizers, I cannot recommend the drugstore antioxidants. The concentrations in drugstore antioxidants are too low.

Retinoids are the gold standard in wrinkle creams and have lots of science behind them. You have two options:

These retinoids are not cheap either. The prescription ones cost about $150 for a 6 months supply. What about the drugstore products with retinol? As with the antioxidants, I think you need the greater concentrations found in the above products.

So that’s it. For those of us over 30-35, use the antioxidant in the morning and the retinoid in the evening. Your retinoid will come with instructions, but be sure to use sunscreen if you are using a retinoid product.

Hopefully the antioxidants and retinoids didn’t break your budget. Now, on cleansers, moisturizers, and sunscreens, you can save yourself some money.

Try these cleansers from your drugstore:

These deserve some attention because moisturizers are worth using.

Here are some drugstore options that are really affordable: 

You’ve heard it before, but it’s really true: Sunscreen is the most important product you can use on your skin every day.

Sunscreens and sun protection are the single best way to prevent prematurely aged skin, age spots, brown spots, leathery-looking skin, skin cancers, and the deadly skin cancer, melanoma. In fact, melanoma is the biggest cause of cancer deaths among kids in their twenties. But – take Vitamin D3, 1,000 units daily.

Here are some good sunscreens available at drugstores and department stores: 

What if you get tired of scrimping and want an affordable splurge? Here are a couple products that make me feel like royalty: